by J F Bone
A roar of sound came from it as the air was filled with its fetid odor. In panic I triggered a blast at the menacing figure, and it, too, flopped and laid still.
I ran my tongue over the roof of my dry mouth and called to Ven. “They’re quiet now. Come in and see what we’ve got.”
“Ugh!” Ven snorted as she entered the tent at my heels. “It stinks!”
“They’re not the sweetest life form in the universe,” I said as I prodded the huge mound beside me, looking for reflexes that would indicate returning consciousness.
“What are they?” Ven asked.
“Mammals,” I said.
“No wonder I thought of a zoo,” Ven said. “But they’re so big!”
“Not on all planets,” I said.
“Obviously,” Ven commented. “Well—what’s next? Let’s get this done. I’m suffocating!”
“Hand me the probe kit,” I said.
I selected two of the longest probes and made my way up to the head of the nearest monster. I scanned its braincase until I found the area I wanted and inserted the probes, driving them through the heavy bone and into the brain beneath. I clipped on the short antennae and stepped back. “Turn the control to low,” I said. “Place the clips on your antennae. Now think of rising.” The bulk beside me stirred and Ven gave a squeak of terror. “It’s all right,” I assured her. “Turn the control back to zero. This one’s secure.”
I went to the second and treated it like the first, and felt a justifiable pride as it reacted. Not many men could implant neuro-probes correctly on the first attempt. “All right, Ven. You can go out now. Take the controls with you. I’ll see what I can do to get these brutes out of their coverings.”
The tent opening swayed as Ven passed through and I bent over the nearest form. The covering was a heavy sack closed with a slide fastener much like the ones we used. I pulled and it opened, sending a flood of rank scent into the fetid air. I coughed, my eyes smarting, and found the fastener of the other sack. Retching with nausea I staggered out of the tent.
Ven sprang forward, caught me as I was about to fall, and lowered me gently to the ground.
“What are we going to do?” Ven asked as I lay panting at her feet.
“We’re going to get them out of there,” I said, “and take them back to the ship. I didn’t come all this way for nothing.” I drew one of the controls toward me, fastened the clips to my antennae, advanced the gain and thought into it. There was a stir of movement inside and a huge form came stumbling out. It stood there clad in loose cloth coverings, reeking with halogen. I looked up at the dark bulk and shivered.
“That smell!” Ven said.
“WE can help it a bit,” I replied and turned to the control. With its massive fore-limbs the brute ripped the cloth from its body as it moved down-wind. I made it stand and took the other control.
“Let me do it,” Ven said. “You can’t handle both of them in your condition.”
“All right,” I said, “but be careful.”
“I will. Now what do I do?”
“Advance the intensity knob and think what you want it to do.”
There was a flurry of movement inside the tent, the thrashing of a huge body, and the second mammal burst through the opening and staggered clumsily to a stop.
“Reduce the intensity,” I said. “You’re projecting too strong a stimulus. Now uncover it and send it over with the other one to cool off. They’re more bearable when they’re cold. They exude the scent from their skin glands to compensate for temperature.”
“I know,” Ven said. “I studied biology.” She did as I instructed and then dropped beside me. We relaxed, gathering our strength for the climb ahead. But I didn’t recover rapidly. I could move, but the exertion made me dizzy. The excitement was over and reaction had set in. “I’ll never make it,” I said dully.
“I can help,” Ven said—“a little.”
“It won’t be enough. You don’t have the strength to carry me.” I looked at the huge bodies of the mammals gleaming pallidly in the darkness, and suddenly I had an idea. The Slaads on Valga domesticated mammals. They were quadrupedal, true enough, but they were still mammals. Why couldn’t I ride one of these as they did? Those great masses of muscle should carry me easily. “I think I have a solution,” I said.
“What?”
“I’ll have one of them carry me.”
“You can’t!”
“Why not? They’re controlled. And they’re the only way I’ll be able to get back to the ship.” I picked up the nearest controller. “Let’s see what happens.”
Ven squeaked as the monster lifted me in the air and set me across its neck. I crossed my pads and hung on. The ground seemed terribly far away.
“How is it up there?” Ven asked.
“A little unstable,” I said, “but I’ll manage. Shall we go?”
We moved up the trail to the rocky abutment and turned up the hill. The brute beneath me climbed strongly and easily.
“Wait a minute,” Ven said as she turned the corner behind me, “you’re going too fast.”
“Why don’t you ride?” I called down to her. “This one moves easily enough. It’s much better than walking.”
“I think I will,” Ven replied.
“THIS is all right,” Ven said as we moved side by side up the hill. “The fibrils on top of its head—”
“Hair,” I corrected.
“The hair of this one is longer than yours. I can hold on nicely.”
The big bodies of the natives moved smoothly and powerfully, their giant strides eating up the distance we had so painfully covered some time before. Presently we came out onto the lower edge of the meadow below our ship.
Ven looked at me, her aura glowing pink with excitement. “I’ll race you to the ship,” she cried, and dashed off with a burst of speed.
Somehow I couldn’t resist the challenge in her voice. I advanced the control knob and thought strongly. The brute jumped as though it had been whipped and leaped into a plunging run. I clung desperately for a moment and then relaxed as I caught the rhythm of the driving strides. My heart pounded, but not with fear. I had never known such exhilaration! Machines were pale compared to it. The mammal could run like a frightened skent—and it was faster than Ven’s!
I caught her halfway up the meadow, and pulled away, exulting in the powerful muscles moving underneath me. I charged up to the grove of trees that concealed our camouflaged ship, and brought the mammal to a halt. It was panting, trembling, drenched with stinking sweat, but I didn’t mind. I was part of it. There was a certain amount of feedback in a bipolar control circuit and I could feel the heat of its body, the beat of the great heart, the rise and fall of the broad chest, the pulse of the blood vessels in the thick neck. It was magnificent! I laughed. I had never before felt the ecstasy of physical strength!
I turned and looked back, still tasting the pleasure of the great body connected to my mind.
Ven drew up beside me. “Hai Yee!” she exclaimed. “What a sensation!”
“You liked it?” I asked.
“Liked it? Liked it? I loved it! Didn’t you?”
“I think so,” I said truthfully.
“I’m going across the meadow again,” Ven said as she turned her mammal around.
“No,” I said. “We have use for these two and we have no knowledge of how much they can stand. There’s no sense damaging them.” I frowned as I noticed the bloody scratches on the legs and body of her mammal.
Ven noted the direction of my gaze. “They’re not as tough as I thought,” she said with sudden contrition. “But they’re not too badly damaged, are they?”
“No.” I said.
I ordered the mammal to set me down. Dawn was breaking and I could see better what we had captured. They were a male and a female. On the whole, except for their mammalian ancestry, they conformed to dominant-race criteria, being erect, bipedal, predatory types with binocular vision. Their upper extremities were evolved
into manipulative organs similar to our primary digits.
The most outstanding difference was the extreme sex dimorphism, which was obviously apparent in the brightening light. The physical differences were carried to such lengths that it was hard to believe that they were members of the same species.
THEY weren’t exactly ugly, yet there was something disturbing about them. Perhaps it was the rank halogen odor of their skin glands that were still secreting despite the coolness of the air. Or perhaps it was merely that they were intelligent mammals. It was as though Authority had, in a moment of cosmic humor, drawn oversized caricatures of Thalassans and endowed them with life. I felt a subtle insult in their presence. I suppose it showed in my aura because Ven came quickly to my side.
“I told you they were disturbing,” she said as we looked up at their monstrous forms towering over us.
“I’m glad they’re not uncontrolled,” I answered, shivering a little as I looked at them. “I suppose it’s just species antipathy, but they make me uncomfortable.”
“Mammals were exterminated on Thalassa long ago, weren’t they?”
“Yes,” I said. “They ate our eggs.”
Ven walked forward and ran her primary digits over the female’s legs. “They’re quite well evolved,” she said. “The skin hasn’t a vestige of scales.”
“Neither does yours except at the tip of your tail,” I said tartly. “Don’t get the idea that they’re a primitive life form. Actually they are a later evolutionary type than we! If our ancestors had not developed intelligence enough to realize their peril we would be extinct—and something like them would rule Thalassa today.”
Ven shivered, “How horrible! I don’t like thinking about it.”
“Don’t,” I advised.
“What are we going to do with them?” Ven asked.
“I was going to analyze them and construct a proxy, but they’re far too big to duplicate with our limited resources. I suppose the only thing we can do is to insert control circuits and use them as they are.”
“Won’t that be painful?”
“Only psychically. Physically they shouldn’t suffer a bit. The brain, you know, feels no pain. It merely interprets stimuli from elsewhere.”
“In mammals too?”
I shrugged. “I suppose so. Besides, what difference does it make? Once we’re through with them we can destroy them if they’re too badly damaged.”
“That seems unfair.”
“It’s not a question of fairness. It’s survival. If they don’t perform properly, we shall have to dispose of them or they’ll be back here with a whole herd. Of course, if they operate under control, we’ll turn them loose when we’re through with them. I doubt that their technology is advanced enough to recognize a bio-circuit if they saw one. And if it is, they will have learned nothing new.”
“But why can’t we keep them—take them back to Thalassa? They’d make an unusual contribution to the Central Zoo.”
“I’m afraid not,” I said. “I doubt if they’d survive space. The only part of the ship large enough to hold them would be the cargo storage compartment, and that’s not shielded. A hyperjump would kill them. You wouldn’t want even them to die that way, would you?”
Her aura turned gray. “No, I suppose not.”
“There isn’t a chance,” I said, seizing her thought before it was uttered. “It would take ten of our lifetimes to reach our nearest outpost on normal spacedrive. Forget it.”
“But—”
“Come along,” I said, “I’ll need your help to modify these brutes.”
ACTUALLY it wasn’t a hard job. Their brains were well developed and nicely compartmentalized. With our probes and instruments it was a simple enough matter to implant the necessary organic extensions of our instruments.
“That should do it,” I murmured as I disconnected the leads I had jury-rigged into the analyzer. “They’re clean as a Fardel’s tooth.” I was tired, but I had the pleasant feeling of accomplishment that comes from working with organic matter. Possibly if I were not so interested in History, I’d have become a medic. I do have a certain talent along that line.
At any rate, we now had a pair of proxies. With only normal fortune they would be completely undetectable.
“Is it all done?” Ven asked as she looked over my shoulder.
“Yes,” I said. “But leave the probes in place until we test them.” I dragged my weary body once again into the control room and tried the headgear and circuits. They functioned absolutely perfectly.
“What do we do now?” Ven’s projection came to me.
“Remove the probes and send them back to their camp. There’s no sense in leaving them here.”
“But Eu—”
“No,” I said. “They are not toys. They’re tools. They’re to do a job for us. Now stop acting like a child. When they bring us metal you can play games with them—but not now. They’re stressed, tired, and need rest. And they’re going to get it.”
“Yes, Eu.” Her projection was submissive.
“But don’t worry,” I added kindly. “You can monitor them. I installed two extra circuits, one to the hypothalamus and the other to the tactile centers. You will be able to feel every sensation they experience. It will be just like having an extra body.”
“Can I try it now?” she asked eagerly as she came into the control room.
“Go ahead,” I said. “Put on a helmet and use the double control. Take them back to their camp and then neutralize the controller. As for me, I’m going to the refresher. I need it.”
III
I awoke from partial estivation with Ven’s projection vibrating my antennae. “Eu! Come quickly! They’re awake!”
I groaned. What did she expect? But it might be interesting to see how they behaved. And if they panicked, someone should be there to assume control.
I checked the chronometer. I had rested for eight satts which should be enough. I felt as well as could be expected, so with only a few choice Low-Thalassic expletives to help me, I managed to clamber out of the tank and stagger into the control room. Ven already had one of the helmets on. I picked up the other and flicked the switch to “on.” It was the male’s—and he was talking. The words were gibberish, but the thoughts behind them were easy to read.
I was part of an entity called Donald G. Carlton, a male mammal of the human species. He was a “writer” and was mated to the female, who was called Edith and who worked in “motion pictures.” They lived in a place called Hollywood, in a family unit structure faintly similar to a children’s creche. Custom on this world dictated that the female take one name of her mate, which indicated that the sex was even more subservient than female Thalassans. The male’s body ached, but not as badly as I would have expected. And, as I expected, there was no sensitivity in the brain.
“Hey! Edith!” Donald said. “Get up!”
“Leave me alone, Don. I’m miserable,” a lighter voice answered from the lumpy sack beside him. “I had the most awful dream.”
“It must be the mountain air,” he replied. “I did too.”
“Whatever made me think this would be fun!” Edith said. “You and your meteor-hunting!” The sack heaved and twisted and her head appeared at one end. “I feel like I’ve been worked over with a baseball bat. Oh! My legs!”
“You’re not alone,” he said. “I guess it’s the hard ground and these strait-jackets they laughingly call sleeping bags.”
“About that dream,” Edith said. “It was horrible. There was this little green and yellow thing that looked like a cross between a lizard and a human being. It was sitting on my shoulders and I was naked—carrying it around, doing what it wanted me to do! I wanted to throw it off and stamp on it but I couldn’t. I just ran and ran and all the time that little monster sat with its legs around my neck, hooting like an owl. Now, wasn’t that something?”
Donald was very quiet. “You know,” he said slowly, “essentially that was the same dream I had.”
“We did.”
“Then maybe—maybe it wasn’t a nightmare!”
“Nonsense. We’re here. We’re all right. But I think perhaps we’d better get out of here—oh, Keerist! I’m one solid bruise.” He twisted around until he found the fastenings and opened the bag. With a groan he stood up.
Edith looked at him, her eyes wide with sudden terror. “Don,” she said in a brittle voice, “didn’t you wear pajamas when you went to bed last night?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you’re not wearing them now.” An expression of horror crossed her face. “And neither am I,” she added in a small voice.
I could feel the shock in Donald’s brain as he looked down at himself. “That’s not all I’m not wearing,” he said dully. “I’m shaved!”
There was a brief flurry inside the other sleeping bag. “So am I!” Edith’s voice was a whisper of fright. “That was no dream! I remember this. The lizard gave me something that I rubbed all over myself—and my hair came off. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help myself.” Her hands went to her head and she sighed, “Well, that’s all there. For a moment I thought—”
“My skin is different,” Donald interrupted thoughtfully as he inspected himself. “It feels thicker. And I don’t feel cold, although I’ll bet it’s nearly freezing outside.”
“Don! Don’t you understand? That dream was real!” Edith said.
“Of course it was,—unless this is a dream. We could be having a nightmare about a nightmare . . .”
I looked at Ven.
“Just what did you do to them?” I asked.
She glowed guiltily. “I didn’t know it would take their hair off,” she said. “I was worried about their scratches, and the insects were biting them. So I made them rub on some of our skin conditioner.”
I raised my digits toward the sky. “There is an Authority that looks over fools and Thalassan females,” I said. “What made you so sure our conditioner would work on them? It might have been poisonous.”
